• Syn-subduction intra-continental shearing during Oligocene in Indochina, SE Asia

    分类: 地球科学 >> 地质学 提交时间: 2021-12-01

    摘要: Indochina developed continental-scale shear zones that record Cenozoic tectonic processes in SE Asia. Previous extrusion models that linked these shear zones with the northward indentation of the Indian continent, conflict with distributed conjugate strike-slip pairs and post-Oligocene rotation in Indochina. This paper presents evidence of coeval shearing along the Mogok-Shan Scarp fault in Myanmar, the western boundary of the Indochina block, previously proposed as a product of northward indentation of Indian Plate. The Kyanigan quarry along the northern Mogok-Shan Scarp fault exposes paragneiss, marble and quartzite schist. ‘σ’ structures, cored with garnet, in paragneiss record right-lateral shear sense, consistent with ‘σ’ and ’δ’ structures in L-tectonites in the Moulmein granitic mylonite to the south. U-Pb ages of metamorphic zircons of paragneiss and a biotite 39Ar-40Ar age of quartzite schist constrain deformation in the Kyanigan quarry to 33-21 Ma; a biotite 39Ar-40Ar age of mylonite at Moulmein is 26 Ma. These ages demonstrate Oligocene right-lateral shearing along the Mogok-Shan Scarp fault, coeval with other shear zones in Indochina. These Oligocene shear zones and strike-slip faults are conjugate structures recording left-lateral shear sense on NW-striking and right-lateral shear sense on N-S to NE-striking features. After restoration of ~80° clockwise rotation, the Oligocene conjugate strike-slip pairs in Indochina reflect approximate N-S-directed shortening, corresponding to northward subduction of the Indian ocean. This suggests that continental-scale intra-continental shearing may have been triggered by syn-subduction compression in SE Asia.